Daily Jolt, March 21: Nash planning surprise Lakers return

Welcome back, Steve Nash? After five weeks on the sidelines, [Nash] is planning a return to the lineup on Friday night, league sources told Yahoo Sports. The Lakers, left with only one healthy point guard, are planning to use Nash as a backup to Kendall Marshall against the Washington Wizards at Staples Center. Nash, a two-time NBA MVP, participated in a full practice session with the Lakers on Thursday. After recently ruling out Nash's return, Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni changed course on Wednesday and suggested Nash could return over the final 15 games of the regular season. D'Antoni informed reporters that guard Nick Young and forward Jordan Hill would return from injuries on Friday, too. The Lakers lost point guard Jordan Farmar to an injury this week. (Yahoo Sports)Comment

Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie has said he has a good idea who his next quarterback will be, but he wasn't interested in offering specifics. NFL Media columnist Michael Silver might have just cracked that code. The Raiders want Matt Schaub, Silver noted on Thursday. NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport previously had reported that the Houston Texans quarterback is on McKenzie's radar. Schaub is being shopped by the Texans, per Rapoport, but interested teams such as the Raiders, Cleveland Browns and New York Jets are not likely to take action until he's released. That could come as soon as Friday, according to Rapoport, after the Texans formally displaced Schaub with the signing of Ryan Fitzpatrick. Around The League's Marc Sessler recently sent Schaub to Oakland as one of the best remaining fits in free agency. (NFL.com)Comment

In the eyes of some, Colorado's tournament ended well before the final buzzer on Thursday. Now, CU is awaiting word from Spencer Dinwiddie on whether the 6-foot-6 junior point guard will declare for the 2014 NBA draft -- even with Dinwiddie having been sidelined since Jan. 12 with a season-ending ACL tear in his left knee. Dinwiddie said Thursday he won't wait until the April 27 deadline established by the NBA for players deciding to declare for the draft. Instead, he hopes to announce his decision within "a couple of weeks." ... He appears emotionally ready to take the next step. "The future is bright for this program," Dinwiddie said in CU's locker room after Thursday's game. "Even if I don't come back, they should be on the brink of the top 25, if not in the top 25, and be a ranked team all year." (The Denver Post)Comment